How Often Should You Meet with Burlington Elder Law Attorneys

Burlington elder law attorneys can help you to ensure that you have an up-to-date plan in place for what will happen if you become incapacitated. An experienced attorney can also help you to make an updated legacy plan and can assist you in making a financial plan that is appropriate to your life situation.

Because elder law attorneys do many different things to help you be prepared for your future and protect your family, it is important that you meet with an elder law attorney when you are still young – despite the name suggesting that only seniors need to meet with elder law lawyers. It is also important that you keep in regular contact with an attorney over time so you can make any adjustments or changes to your plan that become necessary as your life evolves.

How Often Should You Meet with a Burlington Elder Law Attorney?

It is important to meet with a Burlington elder law attorney whenever you have a big change in your life that could impact your financial planning or that could impact either your incapacity plan or legacy plan. Your elder law attorney helps you to make sure that all of the legal documents and tools in place reflect your most current situation so there are no unexpected problems that arise if something should happen to your health.

Some key life situations that should prompt you to schedule an appointment with your attorney include a diagnosis of a serious illness, divorcing, marrying, having a child, acquiring new assets, divesting yourself of assets, having a child turn 18 years-old, having a grandchild, getting a new job, or receiving an inheritance.

There are different reasons for meeting with your attorney when these different life events happen. For example, when your child who was a minor turns 18, you may want to make different plans for how that child would inherit your assets if something were to happen to you. While a minor will not be expected or allowed to manage his or her own inheritance, an 18-year-old could be handed a substantial sum of money without any strings attached if you haven’t made an updated estate plan. If you don’t want your child to just be given a lot of cash if something happens to you, you can work with an experienced attorney to create a trust and place conditions on an inheritance.

This is obviously a very different circumstance than, say, if you got a new job and you needed to meet with an estate plan in order to adjust the amount of money you’re putting into an IRA so you can be prepared to have financial security during your retirement.

In addition to regularly meeting with your experienced attorney to discuss changes to your life situation- and the resulting changes to your estate plan, incapacity plan and financial plan that are necessary- it is also just a good idea to have regular periodic meetings. Nothing big may change in your life that necessitates you adjusting your plans, but there could be legal changes or new regulatory developments that affect you and that your lawyer can explain to you.

To make sure you have the right legal tools in place and that your plan is as updated as it should be, you should meet with your elder law attorney about once a year even if there are no specific circumstances that suggest it is time to consult with an attorney for help.

Getting Help from Burlington Elder Law Attorneys

Unsworth LaPlante, PLLC makes it easy for you to work with our Burlington elder law attorneys to keep your plans updated. We will sit down with you to discuss changes in your life and any legal developments that could affect your plans and will develop an appropriate course of action for you that allows you to always be in control of protecting your legacy, assets, and family.

Our legal team will work with you throughout your life, at all phases of your life, to make sure you’re making effective use of legal tools to accomplish your goals during your lifetime and at the end of your lifetime, and we can also help you to ensure that you are providing for your family in the way that you wish after you pass away. To find out more about the elder law and estate planning services that our firm can provide to you during your lifetime, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at (802) 879-7133 or contact us online to get personalized advice and help with all of your specific estate planning needs.

Stephen A. Unsworth is admitted to practice in both Vermont and Maine, and has more than 30 years of experience in estate planning and business law. His mission is to provide quality estate planning services, including assistance with Living Trusts, Wills, Medicaid Planning, Probate, Trust Administration, Powers of Attorney, Special Needs Planning, and Family Limited Partnerships.

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